rFactor review

After reading the A.S.S. I was ready for rFactor to surpass all other
sims in every area. The reality seems to be far from this yet I can see
the potential there and can only summise the reviewers were writing with
a vision for what might come rather than the product they were reviewing.

Throw in a political desire for rFactor to succeed over future
competitors they have publicly fallen out with and it is hardly
surprising the review has a degree of bias.

That is not to say I am critical of rFactor, just that hopes were raised
that it would raise the bar in all areas - physics, graphics, sound,
control, gameplay etc. similar to the way GPL did in '98 and this
clearly has not happened yet and we will need the community to evolve
rFactor into the next generation sim it has the potential for, which is
how it would appear to be designed.

I certainly don't feel cheated, I let myself hype it partly from a
desire to have a new generation of racing sims and partly from the
A.S.S. review which I knew was from a group desperate for its success.

The cost of rFactor is the same as I have spent on LFS which still has
Alpha in its title. There are many similarities - neither feels
particularly polished as a finished product - because neither is.
RFactor will add more features (such as weather) in the future.

I am quite happy rFactor has been released in its current development as
the physics and graphics engine are essentially complete and we can
enjoy these and start to develop the mods to enjoy them. The single
player game and the interface doesn't seem very compelling other than to
practice and have a bit of fun whilst the multiplayer will need
leagues to get organised to administer the competition element (just as
happened with GPL). rFactor adds no value here but again many of us
would rather sample the physics of the trainer now rather than wait for
an automated league structure or more compelling career and championship
mode.

The F1 lookalike feels like a desire to appeal to as wide an audience as
possible rather than a serious attempt at F1 simulation. The looks,
sound and feel all pale compared to the Trainer IMHO, plus the F1 AI
seem all over the place compared with the Trainers.

I look forward (already) to the Euro F3 mod and potential for online
leagues along with some real tracks to race on.

I believe rfactor will be the basis for the best sim racing for the
immediate future but reviews placing it as the complete racing sim are
stretching the imagination somewhat.

Cheers
Tony

> That is not to say I am critical of rFactor, just that hopes were raised
> that it would raise the bar in all areas - physics, graphics, sound,
> control, gameplay etc. similar to the way GPL did in '98 and this
> clearly has not happened yet and we will need the community to evolve
> rFactor into the next generation sim it has the potential for, which is
> how it would appear to be designed.
>

I started reading this post, until mention of GPL cropped up. Once I saw
that, I closed her down.

Alanb

I would agree Tony that the trainers are a blast. The F1 cars are a joke
imho, I spent all of 2 minutes with them and shut them down.

"Alan Bernardo" > wrote in message
...
>> That is not to say I am critical of rFactor, just that hopes were raised
>> that it would raise the bar in all areas - physics, graphics, sound,
>> control, gameplay etc. similar to the way GPL did in '98 and this
>> clearly has not happened yet and we will need the community to evolve
>> rFactor into the next generation sim it has the potential for, which is
>> how it would appear to be designed.
>>
>
> I started reading this post, until mention of GPL cropped up. Once I saw
> that, I closed her down.
>
> Alanb
>

>I would agree Tony that the trainers are a blast. The F1 cars are a joke imho, I spent all of 2 minutes with them and
>shut them down.

F1's on a small track are just that fast in real life. Pesonally, the
F1 is my favorite car in rFactor.

Here's a video of a real F1 doing a fast lap at Spa, a 4 mile
track in about 1:45:

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/spaf1.wmv

and F1C99-02 RH2004 mod's version of it (unlike the real thing
I'm using manual shift in this 7 speed Ferrari):

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/f1cspa.wmv

rFactors formula car at Toban (dual view video):

http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/rfrf1tgp.wmv

Now this is arcade fast:
http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/nfsu2sx.wmv

"Jeff Reid" > wrote in message
news:XMsSe.158644$E95.142265@fed1read01...
> >I would agree Tony that the trainers are a blast. The F1 cars are a joke
> >imho, I spent all of 2 minutes with them and shut them down.
>
> F1's on a small track are just that fast in real life. Pesonally, the
> F1 is my favorite car in rFactor.
>
> Here's a video of a real F1 doing a fast lap at Spa, a 4 mile
> track in about 1:45:
>
> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/spaf1.wmv
>
> and F1C99-02 RH2004 mod's version of it (unlike the real thing
> I'm using manual shift in this 7 speed Ferrari):
>
> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/f1cspa.wmv
>
> rFactors formula car at Toban (dual view video):
>
> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/rfrf1tgp.wmv
>
> Now this is arcade fast:
> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/nfsu2sx.wmv
>

People act like they've never seen an onboard lap at Monaco. The cars hit
300kph there, and it's the slowest course on the schedule.


--
David G Fisher

"David G Fisher" > wrote in message
news
>
> "Jeff Reid" > wrote in message
> news:XMsSe.158644$E95.142265@fed1read01...
>> >I would agree Tony that the trainers are a blast. The F1 cars are a
>> >joke imho, I spent all of 2 minutes with them and shut them down.
>>
>> F1's on a small track are just that fast in real life. Pesonally, the
>> F1 is my favorite car in rFactor.
>>
>> Here's a video of a real F1 doing a fast lap at Spa, a 4 mile
>> track in about 1:45:
>>
>> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/spaf1.wmv
>>
>> and F1C99-02 RH2004 mod's version of it (unlike the real thing
>> I'm using manual shift in this 7 speed Ferrari):
>>
>> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/f1cspa.wmv
>>
>> rFactors formula car at Toban (dual view video):
>>
>> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/rfrf1tgp.wmv
>>
>> Now this is arcade fast:
>> http://jeffareid.net/cgi-bin/nfsu2sx.wmv
>>
>
> People act like they've never seen an onboard lap at Monaco. The cars hit
> 300kph there, and it's the slowest course on the schedule.
>
>
> --
> David G Fisher

Great lap at Toban btw. :-)


--
David G Fisher

"David G Fisher" > wrote in message
news
>
> People act like they've never seen an onboard lap at Monaco. The cars hit
> 300kph there, and it's the slowest course on the schedule.
>

Yeah, the F1s seem ok to me. I don't know what people expect! Maybe they
have all the aids on or something. Mind you, I have not done many laps in
them yet - really enjoying those trainers!

Alan Bernardo wrote:

> I started reading this post, until mention of GPL cropped up. Once I saw
> that, I closed her down.

Perhaps I worded it badly then Alan. My point was not to compare rFactor
with GPL but to compare the relative position to other sims of the
period. In '98 there is little doubt GPL moved the genre forward in a
big way. The A.S.S. review suggested to me that rFactor would be a
similar leap forward in '05.

If you do read the rest of my post you will see I do feel the rFactor
trainers are probably the best experience in sim racing right now.
However, as an overall package I am less convinced. For good leagues,
providing the online aspect proves to be good the overall feel of a
somewhat limited product will be immaterial anyway.

Cheers
Tony

"Tony Rickard" wrote...
> The A.S.S. review suggested to me that rFactor would be a similar leap
> forward in '05.

Exactly my main gripe with it. Judging from the demo they haven't moved it
far enough ahead of previous incarnations to warrant a purchase. I can see
myself going for GTLegends, because the game is solid enough, the
subjectmatter interests me and it should come with a good version of the
current Zolder circuit, but for me LFS S2 already has fantasy cars/tracks, a
better tyre model, FF and online play.

Jan.
=---

In article >,
says...
> > That is not to say I am critical of rFactor, just that hopes were raised
> > that it would raise the bar in all areas - physics, graphics, sound,
> > control, gameplay etc. similar to the way GPL did in '98 and this
> > clearly has not happened yet and we will need the community to evolve
> > rFactor into the next generation sim it has the potential for, which is
> > how it would appear to be designed.
> >
>
> I started reading this post, until mention of GPL cropped up. Once I saw
> that, I closed her down.
>
> Alanb

Face it Alan - ALL future sims will be compared to GPL and/or NR2k3.
That's simply the lay of the land because pay's sims were always better
than everyone elses. Papy placed the bar, and IMHO, it's the job of
future sims to excel above that bar.

I happen to agree with Tony - rFactor ain't perfect, but it's highly
modable, and there is already an active mod community supporting the
sim.

One last point - at least ISI is *trying* to give us what we want, to
the point that they've gone rogue as far as using a "publisher" is
concerned. They've even delivered a product. It's a whole helluva lot
better than EA's continuing effort to deliver a decent nascar sim.